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ORWELL H. NEEDHAM, OF NEW YORK., N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 82,629, dated September 29, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN ATMOSPHERIC KNOB.

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T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it knov'vn that I, ORWELL H. NEDHAM, of the city,'county, and State of New York, have invented ai new and useful Improvement in Atmospheric Knobs .or Handles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specication, and in whichl Y Figure 1 representsv a side view of a knob or handle constructed in accordance with my improvement.

Figure 2, a transverse section of the same, prior to its compression to produce the necessary suction or hold ou the drawer or surface to which it is designed to Aapply the knob; and

Figure 3 a similar view of the same, as compressedto establish the gripe or suction.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention consists in the production of an atmospheric knob or handle, applicable to opening drawers or doors, and other purposes, in which not only the suction vor holding-plate or face of the handle is made of rubber or other suitable flexible or elastic material, but in which the knob portion of the handle, that may be made out ofthe same piece with the face orsucker portion, is also ilexible or elastic, and formed with a cavity inside of it, in communication, by passage, -with the inner face of the sucker portion, so that on applying the` handleto the drawer, or other obj-ect it is designed to take hld of, a vacuum may be produced ou the inside of the handle, not merely by iattening or compressing the sucker portion, and afterwards relieving the same of such force or pressure, but also by compressing the hollow knob portion of the handle, and allowing such exible part to spring back or out. v

Referring to vthe accompanying drawing, A represents the suction-plate or face portion of the handle, and B the knob part thereof, made in one piece of rubber, or other flexible or elastic and air-tight material.

The sucker or face portion, A, of' the handle should be more or less curved or cupped, so as to constitute a hollow, a, and the knob part, B, of the handle made hollow, lor with a cavity, b, between which and the space a, a contracted passage, c, is arranged to establish communication, said passage being formed in or through a separate plug-piece` C, cemented within the handle, and which gives a body-like or stiff character to the neck of the latter.

To use the handle, it is only necessary, in pressing it up or against-the drawer or other object, as represented in lig. 3, to at the saine time expel the air from the cavity by pressing in ordownthc exible hollow knob part, which afterwards, in recovering its usual shape oufigure, by reason of its elasticity, induces suction, and so assists yto perfect the vacuum or rarei'action on the inside face of the sucker portion of the handle, and to extend, as it were, the area of the same.

In this way, or by such construction, the atmospheric pressure on the back or outside of the handle is increased, and the adhering or pulling capacity of the handle enlarged on applying draught to the handle through its knob, which, in being connected in a comparatively solid manner through its neck with the sucker portion, admits of a strong direct pull without destroying the figure of the handle. Y The contracted passage c also insures a longer hold of the handle on the objectto which it is applied, by reason of the slow ingress it establishes `for air leaking past' the sucker portion, A, to the enlarged cavity, b, of the knob cr knob part B, that, by capacity and flexibility, thus prolongs, in springing back, its exhausting action on the sucking portion A. l

By making the knob and faceholding and sucking portions ofthe handle in one piece, there is not only savingl oi' labor and expense, but less liability to.leakage. a

For opening doors or drawers to which the regular handles have been lost, or from which they have become detached, this device will be found exceedingly handy or convenient, besides which there are many other purposes to which such a portable or removable handle may be applied.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

An atrngspheric handle, composed of a flexible face or sucker portion A, and ilexible or elastic knob or knob-part B, having a cavity, b, within it in communication, by a passage, c, with the interior face o the sucker portion or space contained therein, substantially as specified.

' ORWELL H. NEEDHAM.

Witnesses:

HENRY T. BROWN, EDWD P. TRACY. 

